Is Social Security Growing Broke?
Experts fear Social Security reserves could run out in 2035 – if not sooner. That’s a huge concern for a country in which nearly 60% of retirees say Social Security is their major source of income. In fact, a recent Quinnipiac poll found that a majority of people – especially Millennials and Gen-Xers – fear Social Security won’t be able to pay them a benefit when they reach retirement age.
There is certainly cause for concern. This year alone, Social Security will pay out $1 trillion in benefits to about 65 million people, and the number of recipients is only increasing as the massive Baby Boom generation retires. For the past ten years, the Social Security payroll tax has not been enough to cover benefit payments and the situation is only getting worse with each passing year.
CNBC recently looked into this issue and discovered that “For the last decade, Social Security’s cash flow has been negative, meaning that the agency isn’t collecting enough money through taxes to cover what it’s paying out to beneficiaries.” While Social Security is not going broke and completely running out of money, there is a chance that in the future the agency will only be able to pay a portion of its benefits.
The Seniors Trust is working hard to ensure that does not happen. As a program of The Citizen’s Assembly, a non-profit organization, we’re dedicated to protecting and expanding Social Security retirement benefits for every American senior – now and in the future. Our mission is to persuade lawmakers to pass the Social Security Expansion Act. This landmark piece of legislation will increase Social Security benefits for most recipients by about $65 per month, use the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) to calculate Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) because the CPI-E better takes into account the unique spending habits of seniors, increase minimum Social Security payments to help reduce the number of seniors living in poverty, and guarantee the long-term solvency of the Social Security program.
